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Book Description

When you’re covered in mud, running from men with guns, and stuck in small spaces with very little clothing on, it’s amazing what you can learn about a person.

Steven Quintana was once a top Army Ranger reconnaissance photographer until he made a fatal mistake on a mission. A boy was killed, and Steven’s military career was cut short—all because of a photo he took.
Now he works as a paparazzo in Hollywood where his photos can’t hurt anybody, the money is easy, and he can forget the past.
But when mega movie star Julia Travers is kidnapped, Steven discovers the kidnappers used photos he took to cover up the crime. Realizing that he’s still harming people with his camera, he swears to fix his mistake, Rambo-style.

But—life or death situation or not—the last person Julia wants coming to her rescue is the paparazzo whose photos got her into trouble in the first place.

THE PICTURE KILLS is a fun, fresh, sexy, snappy, fast-paced thriller that starts in celebrity-obsessed Hollywood and climaxes in the exotic and remote cays of the Bahamas.

Excerpt:
“Run, Julia!” someone shouts.
Julia bolts across the patio with her white robe flapping, swim fins in one hand and a canvas bag in the other. She slows to pick up the French Smoker’s gun and then leaps over the first wall.
I feel a bullet whizz past my cheek and then hear the gun-shot. I jump over the wall as more shots ring out. People shout as I disappear into the trees.
I have to move fast, both to escape Caballero and his friends but to also catch Julia.
The shouting continues for a bit and then stops, but I hear enough branches cracking and electronic chirps to know that four men are behind me. I keep searching for Julia while evading them. I notice a flash of white and head for it, and find her robe stuck in a tree. Smart girl, I think. I toss it in the high grass so they can’t find it.
Her trail is easy to find now. I pause every hundred yards and wait until I hear a small thud or crack in front of me, and then I head there until I find her trail again.
Then I reach the fisherman’s hut and the bent grass blades tell me she went inside. Not such a smart girl after all.
Creeping around the side, I find the closed door. “Julia,” I whisper.
There’s no answer, so I push the door open and step in-side. It’s pitch black. I pull a glow stick out of a pocket in my camo pants and crack it, letting the light leak through my knuckles.
Crouching in the corner next to the open window, she’s wearing a bikini, a man’s suit jacket and deck shoes that are too big, and her legs are scratched from running through the woods. She has her canvas bag in one hand and the French Smoker’s gun in the other.
She’s breathing hard, and then our eyes lock and she gasps. In five seconds a half dozen emotions flash across her face: fear…slight recognition…then confusion…then she really remembers who I am…and her face fills with anger.
It’s the same anger I saw ten days ago when I last stared at her eye-to-eye, when she knocked out my tooth with her foot. She raises the gun and aims it right at my heart.
“I hate you, you asshole.”
“Wait!” I yell.
The door next to me bursts open just as she pulls the trigger.

When you’re covered in mud, running from men with guns, and stuck in small spaces with very little clothing on, it’s amazing what you can learn about a person.

Steven Quintana was once a top Army Ranger reconnaissance photographer until he made a fatal mistake on a mission. A boy was killed, and Steven’s military career was cut short—all because of a photo he took.
Now he works as a paparazzo in Hollywood where his photos can’t hurt anybody, the money is easy, and he can forget the past.
But when mega movie star Julia Travers is kidnapped, Steven discovers the kidnappers used photos he took to cover up the crime. Realizing that he’s still harming people with his camera, he swears to fix his mistake, Rambo-style.

But—life or death situation or not—the last person Julia wants coming to her rescue is the paparazzo whose photos got her into trouble in the first place.

THE PICTURE KILLS is a fun, fresh, sexy, snappy, fast-paced thriller that starts in celebrity-obsessed Hollywood and climaxes in the exotic and remote cays of the Bahamas.

Excerpt:
“Run, Julia!” someone shouts.
Julia bolts across the patio with her white robe flapping, swim fins in one hand and a canvas bag in the other. She slows to pick up the French Smoker’s gun and then leaps over the first wall.
I feel a bullet whizz past my cheek and then hear the gun-shot. I jump over the wall as more shots ring out. People shout as I disappear into the trees.
I have to move fast, both to escape Caballero and his friends but to also catch Julia.
The shouting continues for a bit and then stops, but I hear enough branches cracking and electronic chirps to know that four men are behind me. I keep searching for Julia while evading them. I notice a flash of white and head for it, and find her robe stuck in a tree. Smart girl, I think. I toss it in the high grass so they can’t find it.
Her trail is easy to find now. I pause every hundred yards and wait until I hear a small thud or crack in front of me, and then I head there until I find her trail again.
Then I reach the fisherman’s hut and the bent grass blades tell me she went inside. Not such a smart girl after all.
Creeping around the side, I find the closed door. “Julia,” I whisper.
There’s no answer, so I push the door open and step in-side. It’s pitch black. I pull a glow stick out of a pocket in my camo pants and crack it, letting the light leak through my knuckles.
Crouching in the corner next to the open window, she’s wearing a bikini, a man’s suit jacket and deck shoes that are too big, and her legs are scratched from running through the woods. She has her canvas bag in one hand and the French Smoker’s gun in the other.
She’s breathing hard, and then our eyes lock and she gasps. In five seconds a half dozen emotions flash across her face: fear…slight recognition…then confusion…then she really remembers who I am…and her face fills with anger.
It’s the same anger I saw ten days ago when I last stared at her eye-to-eye, when she knocked out my tooth with her foot. She raises the gun and aims it right at my heart.
“I hate you, you asshole.”
“Wait!” I yell.
The door next to me bursts open just as she pulls the trigger.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ian Bull is the pen name of Donald Ian Bull, a TV producer and director turned thriller novelist. His TV credits include The Real World, The Osbournes, and Dr.90210. He grew up in San Francisco, attended UC Berkeley and then UCLA, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. In his free time, he likes to follow them around with a notebook and write down all the hilarious things they say. You can also read his blog about life if California at www.californiabull.blogspot.com

I hadn't read a thriller in a long time, but this one held my interest and I totally enjoyed it. Each chapter leaves you wanting more. I love that there are two narrators -- one, a tough military guy-turned-paparazzo, the other, a beautiful actress with a no-nonsense personality. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I liked the Hollywood angle and the hints of romance that came along with the action (which is gripping!). There are cool locales, a good villain and some great payoffs at the end. Whether you're a thriller fan or not, I bet you'll enjoy THE PICTURE KILLS.

I hardly have time to leisurely read anymore and really miss it. Luckily a friend who knows how much I crave mysteries and all those convoluted plots suggested this book to me..YEY! It was riveting from the first page, a quick read and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. As someone who works in the entertainment industry, I felt that author Ian Bull certainly captured the essence of many strong willed personalities..AND the behind the scene dramas that can take place! LOVED IT!

This is a page turner! The writing style is clean and fast paced putting the reader right there at every moment of this suspense thriller. A great book to escape into and ignore all the other things you should be doing. I look forward to the next book!

In the thriller genre. Ian Bull's first novel is an exciting summer read that plays against the sleazy underbelly of Hollywood and dark memories of a military past. The protagonist is reluctant hero (the best ones always are) just making a living as a paparazzo who knows his way around movie sets, premieres, and nightlife to get the photos that will one day buy his way out.Until he runs into a beautiful up and coming starlet in peril with some seriously criminal elements. Elements her has seen before.Expect this book to be made into a major action thriller blockbuster one day. From the jungles of Central America to Hollywood to the blue Cays of the Bahamas the story weaves its way through an exotic trail of intrigue that will keep you enthralled.Plus there is an ingenious use of coconuts by our hero that you won't see coming.Buy the book and take the trip.

A great summer read! If you like strong and determined characters like Lee Childs' Jack Reacher and James Patterson's Alex Cross, this is right up your alley.

Redemption, greed, egos and violence are intertwined within a Hollywood setting in a Bahamian paradise.

I love how Bull uses two 1st person voices to put the reader in the challenged mindset of his two main characters, photographer Steven Quintana and actress, Julia Tavers. Bull's attention to detail in Hollywood productions and adventure survival skills takes the reader on a page turning ride filled with suspense and unexpected turns.

Looking forward to the next in Bull's series of Steven Quintana novels.

The Picture Kills grabs you from the outset. The reader is taken on a thrilling ride through the celebrity obsessed world of Hollywood to the remote islands of the Bahamas. Bouncing back and forth between a young starlet and a war weary ex-Army Ranger reconnaissance photographer, Bull keeps you on your toes and your interest in what is coming next piqued. I could not put this book down and was thoroughly satisfied and delighted with the high action climax and conclusion. I highly recommend this debut novel - a GREAT summer read!

Set in Hollywood's high stakes and high glamour world of billionaires and movie stars, this page turner sucks you in and doesn't spit you out until the last page. This thriller's twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. Author Ian Bull has managed to deliver a real insider's perspective to the Hollywood PR machine and to filmmaking.

I agree with the other reviewers. This is a fun thriller with the added value of giving great insight to the entertainment industry. I also like the survival tips you learn throughout. The lead female was specific and strong so I really liked that as well. I definitely recommend for any fan of action thrillers and anyone who wants an inside look at film making.